A Missouri Senate bill would set guidelines for teaching human growth and development classes in public schools that some say would promote a pro-life/anti-abortion agenda.
SB 978 would mandate that such courses include instruction on life beginning at conception and that dilation and evacuation is the primary method for performing abortions in Missouri. The curriculum would also include a video illustrating the development of vital organs in an unborn child at every stage of pregnancy.
Susan Klein of Missouri Right to Life testified in favor of the bill during a Senate committee hearing this week.
“Missourians want to know the truth, the scientific factual information about the development of a human being. And I think it should start in our public schools,” Klein said. “I think it enhances our abstinence program. It really gives our kids all the information that they need to make wise choices.”
If it becomes law, any school district or charter school that teaches human sexuality would be required to include human growth and development coursework. SB 978 is sponsored by Sen. Nick Schroer, R-St. Charles County.
Samuel Lee with the group Campaign Life Missouri testified that requiring such coursework follows a precedent set for other education subject matters passed by Missouri lawmakers.
“In more recent years, the legislature has passed a law to require Holocaust awareness and education in our schools,” he said. “School districts not only have to observe Veterans Day on November 11th, but they are required to have at least one class period discussing the meaning and significance of Veterans Day.”
Dr. Christine Jackson, an OBGYN at WashU Medicine in St. Louis, testified against the bill.
“It’s important to distinguish between biological facts and value judgments when teaching these topics,” she said. “Science education should focus on what we know based on evidence and not interpretations or conclusions that extend beyond established medical consensus.”
Otto Fajen of the Missouri NEA opposed the bill, in particular, a provision that gives the Attorney General the authority to sue or issue court orders against school districts and employees that violate the requirements of the bill.
“Because you’re putting so much new code in, so many new requirements, and then you’re saying that anybody who violates any word of those new provisions can be sued by the Attorney General, that’s in conflict with how we do all of the rest of the state education law,” Fajen said.
The Senate Education Committee has not yet voted on the bill.
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